Coping with the calls

Hull City Council’s call centre found itself at the forefront of the council’s response to the emergency flood situation.
Call handlers have been offering advice and assistance to residents affected by the floodwaters.
The 300300 operators answered a staggering 9,591 calls between 8am on Monday June 25 and 8am on Tuesday June 26 when the centre coped with an average of 100 calls every 15 minutes, with calls peaking between 7pm and 7.30pm, when more than 500 were answered.
The large volume of calls continued over the following 48 hours as the emergency situation unfolded, with more than 16,000 calls being taken. This amounted to an average of 128 calls being answered by the team every 15 minutes on Tuesday June 26, only dropping slightly to an average of 125 calls answered every 15 minutes on Wednesday June 27.
The call centre team, which usually operates from 8am to 7pm during the week, extended their hours to offer a 24-hour service to cope with the volume of enquiries.
They pulled out all the stops to handle over 25,000 calls in the first 72 hours of the emergency.
They fielded calls, gave advice and guidance and passed on information on the emergency situation across all the council’s services. This included taking requests for sandbags, giving information on road closures and school closures, arranging for the collection of flood damaged items, dealing with hardship and financial issues and providing contact details of specialist agencies and help lines for emotional and practical support, to name just a few.

For information on Council services and support call Hull Connect on 300300.